The Bible

 

Genesis 25

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1 And Abraham took another wife named Keturah.

2 She became the mother of Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah.

3 And Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And from Dedan came the Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.

4 And from Midian came Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the offspring of Keturah.

5 Now Abraham gave all his property to Isaac;

6 But to the sons of his other women he gave offerings, and sent them away, while he was still living, into the east country.

7 Now the years of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five.

8 And Abraham came to his death, an old man, full of years; and he was put to rest with his people.

9 And Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, put him to rest in the hollow rock of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, near Mamre;

10 The same field which Abraham got from the children of Heth: there Abraham was put to rest with Sarah, his wife.

11 Now after the death of Abraham, the blessing of God was with Isaac, his son.

12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whose mother was Hagar the Egyptian, the servant of Sarah:

13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their generations: Ishmael's first son was Nebaioth; then Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam

14 And Mishma and Dumah and Massa,

15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:

16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names in their towns and their tent-circles; twelve chiefs with their peoples.

17 And the years of Ishmael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven: and he came to his end, and was put to rest with his people.

18 And their country was from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt: they took their place to the east of all their brothers.

19 Now these are the generations of Abraham's son Isaac:

20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramaean of Paddan-aram, and the sister of Laban the Aramaean, to be his wife.

21 Isaac made prayer to the Lord for his wife because she had no children; and the Lord gave ear to his prayer, and Rebekah became with child.

22 And the children were fighting together inside her, and she said, If it is to be so, why am I like this? So she went to put her question to the Lord.

23 And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your body, and Two peoples will come to birth from you: the one will be stronger than the other, and the older will be the servant of the younger.

24 And when the time came for her to give birth, there were two children in her body.

25 And the first came out red from head to foot like a robe of hair, and they gave him the name of Esau.

26 And after him, his brother came out, gripping Esau's foot; and he was named Jacob: Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

27 And the boys came to full growth; and Esau became a man of the open country, an expert bowman; but Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.

28 Now Isaac's love was for Esau, because Esau's meat was greatly to his taste: but Rebekah had more love for Jacob.

29 And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in from the fields in great need of food;

30 And Esau said to Jacob, Give me a full meal of that red soup, for I am overcome with need for food: for this reason he was named Edom.

31 And Jacob said, First of all give me your birthright.

32 And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit is the birthright to me?

33 And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave him bread and soup; and he took food and drink and went away, caring little for his birthright.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1928

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1928. By the fountain in the way to Shur. That this signifies that that truth was from those things which proceed from memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of a “fountain,” also of a “way,” and likewise of “Shur.” A “fountain,” as before said, signifies truth. A “way” signifies that which leads to truth and which proceeds from truth (as before shown, n. 627 t “Shur” signifies such memory-knowledge as is still as it were in the wilderness, that is, which has not yet attained to life. Truths that come from memory-knowledges are said to attain to life, when they join or associate themselves with the truths into which flows the celestial of love, for the very life of truth comes thence. There are conjunctions of actual things, thus of truths, like those of the societies in heaven, to which also they correspond; for a man as to his interiors is a kind of little heaven. The actual things, or truths, that have not been conjoined in accordance with the form of the heavenly societies, have not yet attained to life; for before this the celestial of love from the Lord cannot flow in with adaptation. They first receive life when the form is similar on both sides, or when the man’s little heaven is a correspondent image of the Grand Heaven; previous to this, no one can be called a heavenly man.

[2] The Lord, who was to govern the universal heaven from Himself, did when in the world reduce the truths and goods in His external man, or in His Human Essence, into such order; but as He perceived that His rational that was first conceived was not of this character (as said above, verses 4 and 5), He thought out the cause, and perceived that the natural truths that sprung from memory-knowledges had not as yet attained to life, that is, were not as yet reduced into that heavenly order. And besides, the truths of faith have no life at all, unless the man lives in charity, for all the truths of faith flow from charity and are in charity; and when they are in charity and from charity, then they have life. In charity there is life, but never in truths apart from charity.

[3] That “Shur” signifies memory-knowledge that has not yet attained to life, is evident from its meaning, for Shur was a wilderness not far from the Red Sea, thus toward Egypt, as is evident in Moses:

Moses made Israel to journey from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water (Exodus 15:22).

That it was toward Egypt is evident also in Moses, where the posterity of Ishmael are spoken of:

They dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is toward the faces of Egypt (Genesis 25:18).

Also in Samuel:

Saul smote Amalek from Havilah, as thou comest to Shur, that is toward the faces of Egypt (1 Samuel 15:7).

And again:

David made a raid against the Geshurite, and the Gizrite, and the Amalekite, for they were the inhabitants of the land who were of old, as thou goest to Shur, even to the land of Egypt (1 Samuel 27:8).

From these passages it may be seen that by “Shur” is signified the first memory-knowledge, and in fact such as is still in the wilderness, or that is not as yet conjoined with the rest in accordance with the order of heavenly association; for by “Egypt,” before which it was, is signified memory-knowledge in every sense as before shown, n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462).

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.